61–70 of 77 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
IV fluids aren't even difficult to produce compared to gum arabic, its just different salts in water. This is just pure government regulation causing rationing and harming people. For those downvoting me, here's the American Medical Association: https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/fixin... > The Biden administration has invoked the Defense Production Act “to help speed up recovery efforts and get t…
> This is just pure government regulation causing rationing and harming people. having worked in the space... you are at the level of knowledge of "you don't know what you don't know." it's regulated for good reason. WFI is ultra pure water and costs quite a bit of money to make and is one of the main ingredients in a lot of pharmaceuticals.
If you don't want your corporation's supply chain at risk, maybe use your lobbying dollars to ask the executive branch to actually support foreign nations rather than let them fall into civil war. Sudan has had a military dictatorship from 1989-2019 (led by Omar al-Bashir). In 2017, both President Obama and President Trump lifted sanctions on Sudan, after al-Bashir reneged on a promise to step down just two years ear…
Bold of you to assume the Government wouldn't install a dictator as their method of "supporting" a foreign nation. As though we haven't stomped popular left-leaning governments into the dirt via sponsoring military coups numerous times. Hell, I don't know anything about Sudan, but if you told me the CIA installed Omar al-Bashir to ensure the continued cheap supply of Gum Arabic, I wouldn't necessarily believe you, bu…
Well he immediately suggested to "install a new dictator" in the adjacent comment. [1] I figure dictators are OK as long as the spice keeps flowing.
It's gum arabic.
> Sudan produces around 80 per cent of the world’s gum arabic, a natural substance harvested from acacia trees that’s used widely to mix, stabilise and thicken ingredients in mass-market products including L’Oreal lipsticks and Nestle pet food.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
"How gum arabic, a key ingredient in Coca-Cola, M&M's, is smuggled from war-torn Sudan".
Sure. But now you have a more verbose heading that places the emphasis (by being earlier in the title) on information that’s not actually relevant to the article itself. While also making is sound less accessible to the general audience of that specific website. In short, that’s not an improvement. This is a classic case of the HN crowd not understanding that different audiences are interested in different details.
And it's two words, you could make other cuts if you want.
However, at this point, you arguing a matter of taste.
I don't think Coca-Cola or M&Ms are relevant to the article itself. Gum arabic isn't that uncommon. I mean, this is a largely software developer focused crowd and a lot of people here were like "Ah, gum arabic".
Earlier quoted context omitted.
60% of IV fluids used in the US came from a single manufacturing plant that got hit by a hurricane last year. https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/11/19/nx... My wife gets regular infusions and had to ration for months; the local hospital canceled elective surgeries as well.
IV fluids aren't even difficult to produce compared to gum arabic, its just different salts in water. This is just pure government regulation causing rationing and harming people. For those downvoting me, here's the American Medical Association: https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/fixin... > The Biden administration has invoked the Defense Production Act “to help speed up recovery efforts and get t…
IV fluids aren't difficult to produce, but it IS difficult to produce PACKAGED IV fluids consistently, every time, in such a way that they don't make people sick.
Because that is difficult and important, there are tests and certifications. In turn the tests and certifications are difficult - and yes at this point there is extra cost, and that extra cost becomes a moat, which drives up price.
Unfortunately, the moat is both consumer protection and rent seeking business advantage. That is, part of the excess cost beyond the base ingredients goes to protecting consumers, however a lot of the excess cost comes from the fact that not everyone is willing to undergo all of the paperwork and process that consumers and insurance have asked the government to require.
You are not completely wrong, just mostly wrong.
"Pure government regulation" is so rare as to be non-existent in most people's daily life. "Government regulation" is someone's moat. Sometimes it's a consumer group, sometimes it's special interest, sometimes it's a business. Very rarely it is for the government's own sake.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
60% of IV fluids used in the US came from a single manufacturing plant that got hit by a hurricane last year. https://www.npr.org/sections/shots-health-news/2024/11/19/nx... My wife gets regular infusions and had to ration for months; the local hospital canceled elective surgeries as well.
IV fluids aren't even difficult to produce compared to gum arabic, its just different salts in water. This is just pure government regulation causing rationing and harming people. For those downvoting me, here's the American Medical Association: https://www.ama-assn.org/delivering-care/public-health/fixin... > The Biden administration has invoked the Defense Production Act “to help speed up recovery efforts and get t…
It looks like the problem is a for-profit health system. I want IV fluids, injected directly into the bloodstream of very sick people, to be very carefully regulated.
If you don't want your corporation's supply chain at risk, maybe use your lobbying dollars to ask the executive branch to actually support foreign nations rather than let them fall into civil war. Sudan has had a military dictatorship from 1989-2019 (led by Omar al-Bashir). In 2017, both President Obama and President Trump lifted sanctions on Sudan, after al-Bashir reneged on a promise to step down just two years ear…
That may be learning the wrong lesson. US corporations have used "securing supply chains" to justify encouraging the US government to incite a whole lot of strife and conflict around the world in the last century-and-a-bit.
Also, a lot of oppression in the name of stability.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is just pure government regulation causing rationing and harming people. having worked in the space... you are at the level of knowledge of "you don't know what you don't know." it's regulated for good reason. WFI is ultra pure water and costs quite a bit of money to make and is one of the main ingredients in a lot of pharmaceuticals.
I wonder if the water used in chip production is just good enough. Still not cheap but at least it's easily available in crisis.
80% of the world's supply comes from Sudan...that is certainly a surprise. I'd love to see a table of some of the world's most essential goods that have 80% or more reliance on a single market.